Last lightbulb factory closes - sniff

[HeyBub]

"[WINCHESTER, VA.] The last major GE factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States is closing this month, marking a small, sad exit for a product and company that can trace their roots to Thomas Alva Edison's innovations in the 1870s."

I have no idea how all my Lava Lamps will continue to work if I can't get the right kind of bulbs!

In 2007, a Democratic Congress mandated that incandescent bulbs must not be produced beyond 2014.

But find a need and fill it, I say.

One could encase a CFL is a glass container shaped like a classic bulb, complete with a heating element and probably get close to replicating the bulbs we've grown to love.

[David Nebenzahl]

On 9/8/2010 2:39 PM HeyBub spake thus:

So who said that GE was the onlh mfgr. of regliar old light bulbs?

Hell, most of the ones I see nowadays come from China. Can get them at the dollar store for, like 2-4 for a buck.

[Don Klipstein]

The upcoming incandescent ban scheduled to take effect in stages from January 2012 to January 2014 has a lot of exemptions.

Some lava lamps take incandescent bulbs of lower wattage and accordingly of lower light output than the range affected by the ban. Incandescents of 25 watts or less are generally not affected by the ban.

Some lava lamps take reflector bulbs, which are not affected by the ban.

If you need a "regular light bulb shape" incandescent of 40 to 100 watts, you can get rough service ones, which are not affected by the ban. There are also Philips "Halogena Energy Saver" bulbs, which have energy efficiency high enough to get around the ban.

Also not affected by the ban are tubular bulbs, globular vanity ones, ones with bases other than medium screw, flame shape ones, ones designed for voltage less than 110 or more than 130 volts, ones producing more than

2600 lumens, and most colored ones.

[Don Klipstein]

>

I would get Sylvania ones from Lowes for a similarly low price. A 75 watt "standard" Sylvania (or GE or Philips) lightbulb produces slightly more light than a 100 watt dollar store stool specimen.

[WW]

[Kurt Ullman]

My LL requires 40 w bulbs. The way I use it probably qualifies as "rough service" anyway (grin).

Do they generate enough heat to trigger the lava effect?

[Don Klipstein]

Yes, the 40 watt Halogena Energy Saver produces nearly the same amount of heat as a regular 40 watt incandescent. What it does differently is produce almost twice as much light as a regular 40 watt incandescent, close to as much as a 60 watt regular incandescent produces.

[Don Klipstein]

>

Appliance (including "home oven") and tubular bulbs are among the exemptions from the upcoming ban.

Both of those even come in 40 watts.

[jw]

If that's the case, maybe I'll just rewire all the lights for 240V.

[Tegger]

"HeyBub" wrote in news:Su-dnYq3kJMHnxXRnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

A hit of LSD will do it. At least for a few hours, anyway. You'll even see colors you didn't know your Lava Lamp could make.

And Dubya signed it into law! What a guy.

They actually do have CFLs encased in a plastic "bulb" that looks almost exactly like a real incandescent, but costs ten times as much. Ah, government-mandated "progress".

I've stocked-up on so many incandescents I'm probably OK until the next millennium. Or until I'm dead, whichever comes first.

[jeff_wisnia]

How about the left hand threaded Edison base bulbs like the ones they used to use on streetcars to discourage theft by passengers?

Jeff

[John Gilmer]

Oh, come on!

The CFLs work "pretty gud!" Over all they can save quite a bit of change.

[Ed Pawlowski]

When the CFL first became available, I tried one and after 30 minutes replaced it with a regular bulb again.. Over the years, they've improved them considerably and I now use CFL in most places in the house. The color is far superior to what it used to be with that sickly green cast.

[RickH]

Europe officially stopped all incan. sales on 9/1.

[hallerb]

The larger issue isnt bulbs, its the moving of manufacturing near everything to foreign countries.

this loss of manufacturing is why our economic dump is still with us, and were about to tank again.....

I dont know what the solution is, but the problem is effecting every one of us, and about to get far worse.

[Don Klipstein]

Those are also exempt from the upcoming ban.

[Robert Neville]

I agree - the 2700 degree CFLs (Sylvania mostly) are very good color temps for interior use. They do OK for warmup time, but it still takes 30 seconds to come to full brightness.

[Jeff Thies]

Actually no.

Would you rather live in China where there is lots of manufacturing?

The problem is monetary, and these always take a long time to recover. On top of that, the consumer is tapped out. Savings rates went negative ~2005.

It'll be slow going for some time but a double dip is unlikely.

I'll let you panic by yourself. It wasn't hard to see this coming.

Jeff

>

[HeyBub]

Countries should do what they do best - in this case, China is better at manufacturing than we are.

By allowing each country to specialize, the wealth of all nations is increased.

Adam Smith settled this controversy in the 18th century with his "An Inquiry Into The Wealth of Nations."

[Bob Villa]

Jeff, are you that old? I remember streetcars and buses...never knew that!